The Zodiac Spirit Guardians

Memories

It could eat me, right here and now, and my guardians wouldn't be able to do a single thing about it. They'd try, but soon realize they can't piece someone back together after the chewing starts. Luckily, the black dragon's enormous head doesn't budge. It just beams at me with giant grey eyes that close for a long moment as his neck bows deeper to the ground.

I'm not fluent in dragon mannerisms but I think he's inviting me to climb up and ride my way to the Committee.

The wind shifts and blows my hair into my eyes, keeping me from seeing clearly. My feet gently step onto his nose, and my hands reach out to steady myself against the bridge between his eyes. The scales are smooth against the palms of my hands, feeling more like stone than skin. I crawl my way up his face and onto his head in a matter of seconds, careful not to hurt him and strike up a rage I won't be able to soothe.

The more I seek to become a wall of solitude, the more I realize that taking all of this in with an airy attitude is not the easiest way to cope and deal with it. The girl from my dreams pops up in my mind, but for once, I don't want to become her. Those blackened eyes and hardened heart cannot be the finished product of me.

I take one last look at my guardians and commit them to memory.

Steele holds Miyazu by the collar of his shirt and nods once to me, the only goodbye gesture I can expect from him. His stern citrine eyes, contrasted with the hard angled eyebrows, grow more and more vibrant in color. He has a strong square jawline, defining his face into maturity and confidence. The short brown hair on his head has grown out a little past half the length of my pinky finger. I haven't seen his facial expression change very drastically since waking up on the bed of feathers the other day. Part of me really wishes there was a memory somewhere that could help me see a smile on his face.

Rayce has both his hands crushed to his chin like a scared little child. Everything about the lines and contours of his face are softer than Steele's. His short blonde hair is spiked around in all directions on the sides of his head, but the top is manicured into a full volume mountain. His energetic blue eyes couldn't even try to hide behind his thick eyebrows. His skin is near pale, and everything about him works in an enticing yet juvenile way. Rayce can truly pull off being childish and cute. I'll miss his refreshing personality the most.

The twins, Kappie and Ezra, look identical with their boyish yet mature diamond shaped faces. Both of their eyebrows are thin and flat, leaving their eyes to be the center of attention. They have layered hair just long enough to cover their ears and forehead, but not while the wind ruffles it all over the place. The difference is their unique styles, Ezra with his silver stripe and Kappie with his auburn tints. The violet and scarlet eyes of these two men hold the most sincere compassion out of the lot, and easily tear my heart to pieces just from the eye contact.

And then there's Haruka. His jawline is more triangular and his silver hair forms voluminous wisps and spikes all over the place, sloppy in every sense of the word. The brows that shield his forest eyes are short. I saved him for the end, knowing that the emotion I'd see in his eyes would help me to continue through with my plan. But now, the look I receive from him is unexpected. Where I thought I'd see hate, I see concern and determination.

Even without saying the words, I know each one of them trusts me. They may believe there's a better plan out there that could've been chosen, but they still believe I can do this. Now I have to prove them right.

I steal one last glimpse of them from on top of the dragon as he and the others fly away from the clearing in the forest. My guardians are all clean shaven and from a distance, they sort of look the same. They're slender but muscular with the strength that comes for self-defense training.